Backstory of My Book, Life Is Sales
Written to inspire the salesperson inside all of us
Fun fact: I bought the rights to the URL lifeissales.com over 20 years ago. I wasn’t exactly sure what I would do with it and when, but I figured it was a smart move to grab it while it was available. And I’m glad I did!
Long before this moment, I had come to the realization that everyone sells. Over a couple decades or so this idea really crystallized for me, and I began to share it with others. It seemed like it was catching on.
Here we are today and I still believe in this idea, except even more wholeheartedly than ever. That’s why I wrote my first book, Life Is Sales, which I am excited to share is available for preorder now.
Everyone sells something
We all sell, all of the time, whether we realize it or not (actively or passively). It may not always be a product or service, and often isn’t; we sell ideas, opinions, dreams, potentials, and so much more. My goal as a leader has been to help people understand and embrace this concept in order to fully maximize their potential in life.
Sales is also the lifeblood of any business, and understanding it makes you more valuable and helps you perform better in any role in an organization.
This book is 280 pages of personal experiences and stories told with authenticity, vulnerability, humor, and more. I am incredibly happy and scared for it to exist, which is perfectly normal; remember, fear and excitement are two points on the same scale.
Why did I take on this project? Did the world really need another memoir? These are questions I asked myself. Then it hit me that writing this book is a direct manifestation of the Life Is Sales philosophy itself in action. I wrote it because it was time I shared my unique gifts with the world, as we all should do. I’ll reiterate a bullet point from my last blog post where I shared 60 Life Lessons: Don’t wait until you are old to show the world who you are!
I truly believe anyone can find value in the pages of this book to be a better parent, child, sibling, partner, spouse, friend, and human being. We all sell, but most of all, we are all human. What are we on this Earth for if not to become the best people we can be and live our lives to the fullest?!
Life Is Sales concept refresher
For those unfamiliar, I officially developed the Life Is Sales mantra a few years ago but unofficially had been practicing its principles for decades. I turned this slogan into a philosophy for working and living. You can read more in this blog post: The Meaning Behind Life Is Sales.
The beauty of this book is that it is for everyone (because, again, we all sell), from entrepreneurs to CEOs, account executives to sales managers, couples and parents, and everything in between. It’s not just for those at the top of the org chart; it’s for anyone looking for practical, actionable strategies to live a more purposeful life with awareness, choice, and intent.
The Life Is Sales philosophy, and in turn, the LIS book, can help you:
Instill a thriving culture within your team, company, or family
Develop Social-Emotional Intelligence to be a better communicator
Increase awareness of your own feelings as well as others’
Build deeper and more valuable relationships
Establish a growth mindset leading to resilience and a love of learning
Live and work with more efficiency and effectiveness
Maximize our potential with more intention and purpose
Redefine what it means to serve ourselves and others
As you can see, sales translates to life. To me, life is about relationships and experiences. Sales experience helped me become a better leader, executive, and eventually CEO. It also taught me how to serve people and become a better partner, father, and friend. It helped me become a better person.
Reflections from writing
It’s been more fun than I initially thought to look back on my life and reflect on all the experiences I’ve been through. I have truly been blessed! Time and space provide us perspectives that we just don’t get when we’re living through life in the moment. I am different now than I was in my 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s because I’ve embraced growth, development, and lifelong learning.
We intend our lives, whether consciously or unconsciously. I attempted to show readers the growth, development, beliefs, challenges, struggles, and more that I went through to become the person I am today. To borrow a concept from my electrical engineering background, over time I developed the capacity to store more, thus allowing me to give more to others.
One of my hopes is that this book helps people avoid mistakes I made during my career. At the same time, I also hope readers understand that failure is ok and even necessary, as we learn so much from our mistakes. Fear is also ok. I was scared in the beginning as a new CEO. I thought it would go away, but it didn’t. The more successful the company became, the more fear I had. However, I learned to become friends with my fear and how to handle it by channeling it toward positive outcomes.
Having my personal mentor and coach, Dr. Bob Wright, along for this ride was an interesting perspective and one that I hope makes for an insightful read. The Wright Model of Human Development was instrumental in helping me become a well-rounded person, and I reference it several times throughout the book.
We all live our own lives daily, so we don’t always reflect on what we are doing. His outside-looking-in perspective was invaluable, and I hope his contributions to the book provide an insightful look at how Social-Emotional Intelligence has been critical to my overall learning and development as a leader.
I’m incredibly proud to have authored this book for so many reasons, and have to thank all who played a part in making it a reality. Enjoy Life Is Sales and please share any feedback you have as I’d love to hear how it has impacted you. Hopefully it inspires you to go after your own goals and take steps towards realizing your dreams. And if it’s entertaining along the way, then that’s fantastic as well! I appreciate your support!
Life Is Sales officially launches on October 7th, but the good news is you can preorder it now by clicking the button below.
Reviews for Life Is Sales
“If you were ever going to learn sales from anyone, it’s Rich Lyons. Not only because he is the walking example of “exponential success,” but because he is the living embodiment of a man who learned how to leverage his greatest asset: his heart to serve. As you will see in these pages, leadership is an inside job. Great entrepreneurs think the path to reach their dreams exists on a road map, when in reality it exists in their own mirror. If you’re ready to exponentially grow your wealth as well as yourself, Life Is Sales is the manifesto you’ve been missing, written by one of the greatest businessmen and humans of our time.”
—Jessica Zweig, chief visionary officer at Jessica Zweig, Inc., founder and former CEO of SimplyBe. Agency, and author of Be and The Light Work
“Great businesses aren’t built on products or services, the great ones are built on people and purpose. That’s what Rich Lyons understands at the deepest level. Having known Rich for over a decade, I know firsthand he doesn’t just sell—he builds real value. He builds companies, relationships, and cultures that thrive. Life Is Sales isn’t about mere tricks or tactics; it’s about leading with authenticity, earning trust, and creating real impact—building real value in business and life!”
—Bob Schwartz, managing partner, 47 B Street; board member and advisor, former president, Magento Inc. (Adobe Commerce)
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